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CPL's Vancouver FC fires head coach Afshin Ghotbi, hires Martin Nash

CPL's Vancouver FC fires head coach Afshin Ghotbi, hires Martin Nash

CTV News23-07-2025
VANCOUVER — Canadian Premier League club Vancouver FC has fired its first-ever head coach, Afshin Ghotbi.
The team announced the move Wednesday, saying Martin Nash will take over as interim head coach and head of Vancouver's academy.
Ghotbi has been the club's head coach since the team's inception back in 2022, and Vancouver went 18-37-20 during his tenure.
The team currently sits in last place in the CPL standings with a 1-9-5 record on the season after getting thumped 4-0 by York United on Saturday.
Vancouver's president and chief executive officer Rob Friend says in a statement that Ghotbi helped build the team from scratch, both on and off the pitch.
Nash joins the team after serving as head coach for York United from 2021 to 2024, and as an assistant for Cavalry FC from 2019 to 2021.
Appointing the 49-year-old Canadian international to the role is an opportunity to 'reset, refocus and align our organization from top to bottom as we aim to put in strong performances over the second half of the year,' Friend said in a statement.
'We look forward to building momentum and finishing the season on a high note,' he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2025.
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Tale of the tape: McIntosh vs. Ledecky in the 800-metre freestyle
Tale of the tape: McIntosh vs. Ledecky in the 800-metre freestyle

CBC

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  • CBC

Tale of the tape: McIntosh vs. Ledecky in the 800-metre freestyle

There was a theory that Summer McIntosh was conserving energy at the world championships in Singapore for a highly anticipated 800-metre freestyle showdown against Katie Ledecky. It turns out that theory was extremely wrong. McIntosh won gold in the 200-metre butterfly by a full three seconds on Thursday, but came away mostly annoyed that she hadn't broken the world record. At 2:01.99, the 18-year-old's time was the second-fastest in the history of the event, but still fell .18 seconds short of the mark set by China's Liu Zige during the supersuit era in 2009. Watch the full race, including McIntosh's reaction, here. "I was so close, that's what upsets me a little bit," McIntosh told CBC Sports reporter Devin Heroux after the race. "If there's one world record that I wanted to break since the start of my career, it's this one." Still, the win made McIntosh three-for-three in Singapore. She's attempting to win five solo gold medals at worlds, a feat accomplished only by American great Michael Phelps in 2007 ahead of his iconic eight-gold performance at the Beijing Olympics. Watch McIntosh's family react to her latest win here, and check out The Ready Room's breakdown of today's action here. The biggest roadblock in the drive for five was always going to be Ledecky and the 800 freestyle. It already looks like a classic sports story: the rising superstar vs. the wily veteran. Heats begin Friday at 12:11 a.m. ET, with McIntosh and Ledecky in separate races. The final is scheduled for Saturday at 8:17 a.m. ET. Live coverage is available on CBC Gem and Here's how they stack up: Summer McIntosh Age: 18 Olympic medals: 4 (3 gold, 1 silver) World championship medals: 11 (7 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze) 800 freestyle personal best: 8:05.07 (national record, set in June) McIntosh has been dubbed as the next one in Canadian swimming since her 2021 Olympic debut as a 14-year-old, when she placed fourth in the 400 freestyle. The rise has been meteoric ever since, culminating with a Canadian-record three gold medals (plus one silver) at the Paris Olympics. In June, McIntosh raised the bar even higher, smashing three world records at national trials in five swims. One mark she missed? The 800 freestyle, which belongs to Ledecky. Still, McIntosh is within a second of the American — and she broke the 8:10 barrier for the first time ever this season. "I'm still learning how to swim [the 800m]," she said at trials. Well, it appears the Canadian is an ace student. In Feb. 2024, she handed Ledecky her first loss in the distance in 14 years. McIntosh has proven that the bright lights don't faze her — she's as open about wanting to match Phelps' medal mark as she was visibly disappointed by missing the 200 fly record. McIntosh also won the first duel against Ledecky in the 400 freestyle to open worlds, and she wants the smoke: "One of the many reasons I picked the 800 is because in my opinion it is the biggest challenge," she said. Now, she'll try to capture the throne. Katie Ledecky Age: 28 Olympic medals: 14 (9 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze) World championship medals: 29 (22 gold, 6 silver, 1 bronze) 800 freestyle personal best: 8:04.12 (world record, set in May) For years, Ledecky has been known for her dominance — for the camera shot of her alone in the pool in an eight woman-race, or the one of her swimming in the other direction from her seven opponents. The American is largely viewed as the women's swimming GOAT, and she's pursuing a Phelps record of her own, sitting four gold medals behind her ex-teammate for the most ever at worlds. Through all the accolades, Ledecky's strength has always been the 800. She first broke the world record in 2013 at 8:13.46 — that mark is now the 46th-best. And Ledecky continues to get faster, having reset the world record again in May after not touching it for eight years. She's won four consecutive Olympic gold medals in the 800, and she owns 21 of the 25 fastest times ever. McIntosh's mark from trials, however, slots in at No. 3. Ledecky has never faced pressure like that from any competitor since she solidified herself among distance swimming's best. She's yet to compete against McIntosh in the same pool this season, and considering the way McIntosh is trending, this could be her last best shot to beat her. But she's in top form: in Ledecky's victorious 1,500 freestyle swim, her 800-metre split clocked in at 8:09.57, which McIntosh has only beaten once. Game on. By the numbers Earlier this month, The Buzzer enlisted Shoreview Sports Analytics to crunch the numbers on the McIntosh-Ledecky showdown. What the models produced foreshadows a thrilling race. Taking into account McIntosh's lack of sample size — she hasn't swam the 800 in a major meet since the 2021 Olympics — Ledecky has a slight edge (0.24 seconds) in average expected range, and an even slighter edge in projected fastest time (0.07 seconds), which are both in the 8:01-range. For a closer look at the numbers, check out Buzzer regular Jesse Campigotto's breakdown in last Thursday's newsletter. On deck * Canada's Josh Liendo and Ilya Kharun are set to go head-to-head in the men's 100 butterfly, starting in the same heat Thursday at 10:23 p.m. ET ahead of semifinals Friday at 7:10 a.m. ET. 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He placed 19th in Paris and now faces stiff competition from Olympic champion Hubert Kos, silver medallist Roman Mityukov and South Africa's Peter Coetze, who led qualifying at 1:54.22 — a time that would have won the Olympic race. * Canadian diver Carson Paul will compete in the men's three-metre springboard semifinals on Friday at 2:02 a.m. ET. The final goes at 5:32 a.m. ET. Canada is still looking for its first diving medal after Katelyn Fung placed fourth in the women's 10-metre platform event on Thursday. How to watch full streaming and broadcast schedules for details. can be found here.

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